RSS Feed
Archive for April 2010
One of my roles is art director and designer of Spirit of the North magazine. It’s a quarterly publication dedicated to covering everything that is quintessentially north: adventure, exploring, nature and the environment.
The Winter issue (our most recent regular issue) featured a photo gallery starring the Aurora Borealis — or northern lights. The images are so, so beautiful. I’ve only seen the northern lights in person once. This photo gallery has me longing to do so again.
We’re currently in production on our Spring/Summer 2010 issue. If you’d like to see more, visit the magazine online here.
Today I’m grooving to Vancouver singer/songwriter Hannah Georgas. Her new album, This is Good, is, well, good! Check her out for yourself.
Today I’m loving this sweet artwork by (I think) Jennifer Davis. First seen in the French Paper sample room, here.
In my continuing series of “new to you” design postings (please do bear with me… I’m catching up on about 9 months of work!), I’m very excited to showcase Darbi G. Photography. Darbi is a wedding, lifestyle and boudoir (ooo la la!) photographer based in Kansas City, MO. She’s a little bit sassy, a lot energetic and tons of fun to have as a client.
What was she looking for in her new visual identity?
“I want viewers to see my logo/brand and feel the vibe that I am a photographer who likes to connect with my clients beyond the camera. I want them to get dreamy when they think about their wedding images, yet I don’t want them to expect traditional imagery. I want them to feel comfortable just being themselves, even if that means their kids will stick their tongues out at me. I want them to see my brand and immediately feel warmth, but not cutesy warmth. I want them to get all excited envisioning what pictures I can take of THEM. I love pretty packaging…and I think that can speak volumes rather than just a generic disc encasing.”
With that as a starting point, we began by re-working her logo. Darbi knew she wanted to keep the main typeface the same (it’s Garamond – who wouldn’t want to keep it??) and she loved her colour palette of blue, white, red and black… but other than that, she was looking for something a lot fresher, a lot sassier and a design not based on her intials (and I totally agreed). Here’s the before and after:
The first thing we addressed was her icon. She wanted a graphic treatment that would allow her to use the icon (and its elements) as design features in her marketing materials. We went with an oval shape (round = connection and openness; the oval says “a little out of the ordinary”) and a floral-ish graphic that feels 50% retro and 50% feminine. And those little dots inside the petals? Reminiscent of peas in a pod, no? Just like Darbi and her clients! Putting her company name in black with red dots ensures it stands out even with that pretty icon attracting the eye.
Next we worked on her business cards.
You can see how we mixed up the design elements of her visual identity.
Here is here blog before:
and after:
[ See the difference more highly saturated colours can make? Suddenly everything pops! So much more "Darbi G." ]
We also did two brochures. The first is the wedding brochure… sassy, yes, but still a little romantic.
This is her lifestyle brochure. We used the elements of her visual identity in a different way… a little more unisex in appeal. But still unmistakeably Darbi G.
And finally, we did up some notecards that she can use for that personal touch.
Thanks, Darbi, for the opportunity to work with you on your new look. It was such a great project!
OK, OK, technically this does not even come close to qualifying as new work … the Solars launched their new look way back in October 2009! But I have been busy, what can I say, and I have neglected showing off my clients to the degree they deserve. Especially clients as wonderful as these! So, without further ado, I bring you Solar Photographers, a husband and wife photography team based in Kansas City, MO.
I always ask my clients to complete a design brief. It helps me understand them; it helps them understand themselves. And it gives us some pretty clear focus for our design undertakings. With the Solars, a change in the business (moving from mostly Josh to Josh + Jenny) was driving the desire for change. Here is what they told me: “We want the brand to be about us, and not Josh Solar Photo. We are open to change everything we have to to make our brand about Josh and Jenny Solar. The business is us, and needs to reflect that.” What were they looking for in a visual identity? Something that says “We are fun, happy people who love our job. Everyone who books us gets treated like the unique individuals they are.”
We started with the logo re-design. The inspiration? Well, it came from a ton of places but most directly from their images. They are filled with fun and genuine emotional connection. And that is what we tried to reflect in their new look.
Here is the logo before and after:
Really fresh colours. A very open feeling type treatment. And an icon that communicates joyful energy.
Next step? Figuring out how to implement that new logo into a complete visual identity system. And when I say “system,” I mean “system.” You are going to see tons of collateral in this post. Josh and Jenny re-did everything… and I had an absolute blast helping them do it!
First we developed a tagline (We have fun taking pictures.) and featured it in their new business card design:
Next we tackled their blog redesign. Here is the before:
And here is the after – much more fun, right?
And after that we worked on a whole host of collateral materials. Here are some pages from their wedding brochure:
And their portraits brochure (yep, they are multi-talented that way!):
We also customized all their forms (they ask their clients all the right questions to ensure they take the best images they can!):
We did some fun gift certificates…
And a map for directions to their studio:
We did some promotional postcards (these are the portraits postcards; we did some for weddings, too):
We even customized their Design Aglow materials!
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. The Solars visual identity is super flexible and we can apply it easily to all kinds of materials!
Josh & Jenny are two of the most open-hearted people I have ever met. I was delighted to help them create a visual identity that helps express that. It has been SUCH a joy to work on this project!
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2